Night Visit
by The Darkness Knight
Summary: She's at the end of her rope, Haven is destroyed, Justinia is dead and Leliana has never felt more alone in her life, but after one night of constant nightmares, she wakes up to find the only person who she ever really cared about outside the Chantry return for one night visit she needed. One shot, M!Warden/Leliana


**Definitely a long time since I did anything Dragon Age, since Inquisition came out last week I have felt it was so much better with the story, only that upset me was finding out my Warden wasn't in it, so I decided to justify that. Please note that this is spoiler filled with some aspects from Inquisition so if you don't want to be spoiled, don't read it! Otherwise enjoy, this follows a human, male noble Grey Warden who survived the final battle against the arch demon. Again, don't read if you don't want to be spoiled. **

**Nightly Visit**

_She is at the edge of her rope, Haven broke her, now feeling lost and more alone than ever, she is gifted with the sight of someone she once held close by the fire, but is he really there? Or is he a vision of the Maker?_

* * *

An endless nightmare that is what it seemed to her, three days of trekking through the cold icy path from the ruins of Haven and to the spot where they would now camp, dubbed Skyhold by the Dalish, seemed to be too good to be true, an entire fortress dedicated for them to commit their work, and as a founding member of the Inquisition, she couldn't be more proud of the work they had done.

The Inquisitor had been travelling for the past few weeks with the Champion of Kirkwall to find corruption within the Grey Wardens and it seemed…quiet, sending out her nightingales to various sources, committing her agents to missions to support and gain trust for the Inquisition and it seemed like she was trapped within the hauntings of her own doubt.

Her body twisted and turned as the night seemed to press on, the only light illuminating her office came from the candle mounted by her bedside, often she found herself reading the chant of light to calm herself, she had always thought believing in the maker would get her through these trying times.

Yet how could she? The Divine was dead, Justinina was not only a friend, but a shining light when she needed it most, tired, wounded and bleeding from her time as a bard in Orlais, and she felt safe being a part of the cloister, that was until she met him.

The way he moved into the tavern in Lothering that calm Tuesday afternoon, the way the sword in his hand glistened in the light, eyes glowing with the power of the Grey Wardens in his emerald green eyes. He was her champion, her love, the one who had guided her into happiness, yet it had been nearly eight years since they saw each other, eight years since the incident with the Architect occurred, and yet she thought of him often.

_Denerim burned with a mighty red and orange flame, it shone brightly as people yelled in the streets, running for their lives as Darkspawn came crawling out of the prison that was Fort Drakon, he walked ahead of them, shimmering Grey Warden armor coated his body, the mighty blade he called Starfang was drawn and slashed into the bodies of the Darkspawn that approached, she was covering from behind with her bow and arrow, feeling her back pressed against his, a smile formed on her face feeling the warmth coming from his body._

"_It looks like the Archdemon has moved to the roof, I have a feeling Riordan didn't make it after all." The Warden known as Ryan Cousland whispered in a hushed tone as he began to make his way up the stairs_

_As she turned to look at him, he was gone, she tried to run up the stairs but found that she couldn't her legs didn't seem to want to work, her body slowly freezing as she saw a bright light flash in front of her face "Ryan!" She called out_

_The last thing she heard was the crying of the Archdemon and a bright light coming from the top of Fort Drakon. _

She awoke from her slumber in a start, sweat dripped off of her forehead, her red locks dangling down like a curtain in front of her face, she slowly looked out and saw the night was still present by the crescent moon in the sky, a smile formed on her face as she looked out at it, slowly climbing out of bed as her feet touched the wooden floor beneath, she used to look out at it with him whenever they were on guard duty, those quiet moment when he would sit and listen to her talk for hours on end about the countless stories she heard on her travels.

"It's late Leliana, you should be sleeping."

Leliana's eyes widened as she realized who that voice belonged to, she quickly turned on a quick turn and tears began to fill in her eyes as out of the shadows he approached, brown hair slicked back with a few grays forming, his face looking just as youthful with scruff on his face, his silver armor freshly polished with the golden symbol of the griffin on the front.

She wanted to hit him, she wanted to kiss him, she wanted to do so many things "What are you…how did you know I was here?"

Ryan Cousland smiled a weary smile as he approached her "I have my contacts, like you have yours, one of them happens to be a soldier in the Inquisition." He stood face to face with her, his green eyes looked onto her ocean blue and he could see she was almost watching him like stone "You haven't changed a day."

She backed away slightly and smirked "But you have." She motioned to the grays "In your letter, you said you were trying to find a cure." Leliana gently sat down on the bed, a sigh escaped her lips

"No, but I'm close, very close. The dwarves were somewhat helpful and so was the archive at Weisshaupt Fortress. I move onto Tevinter after this to meet with a Warden there who has studied old magic that might be able to break the curse but I'll still have some of my powers."

"Oh." She looked down at the floor, but soon felt a feeling of doubt

"Something wrong my love?" He asked, noticing the distance there seemed to be between them

"I thought you were here to stay, not here to visit me." She stood and walked back over to the window "When Justinia died…I gave up all hope, I still don't wonder what tomorrow will bring."

"You have changed." He whispered, but she heard him, which caused her to bolt her head around "I used to enjoy waking up in the morning to hearing you singing, listening intently to you telling stories from your time as a bard. But now…now I hardly recognize you, gathering information that can make an empire crumble. Sending troops out to kill someone cold blooded."

"So what? I thought you would be happy to see me standing on my own. Not that pathetic sister who used to worship the ground you walk on." Leliana growled as she looked at him

"I am happy Leliana." He stood and rubbed his face "But speaking from an outside perspective, I'm not the only one who has noticed this change. Josephine, even Alistair has noticed it." He walked over to her, his feet carrying him gently as he wrapped his arms around her lithe waist

"We're not the same people we were ten years ago Ryan." She let her head rest against his shoulder, the metal cooling the back of her neck "Your facing your calling head on, I'm with the Inquisition now. We can't do what we used to."

"Why not? We were fine travelling around Thedas, remember when we visited Justinia after the blight? The happiness on your face when the two of you were reunited."

"I know, I know." Her eyes looked out at the sky at the scar where the breach once sat "I just keep wondering if I should have done something different. I feel like I failed Haven, I failed her."

"The Leliana I know would never feel that way, she would always do what was right and find a way to save the remaining. Just because people died doesn't mean that you failed anyone, it only means that you are human and we make mistakes, how you feel right now is how I felt when Howe murdered my parents."

Her eyes closed as she felt a gloved hand going through her hair, it was a calming gesture, something she enjoyed that always relaxed her "How did you do it? Coped with the loss, feeling the pressure of all of those people's lives on your shoulders?"

"When I get stressed like that, I think about my friends, loved ones, who I'd lose if I failed." Her eyes opened as she turned to face him

"You mean me?"

"Of course I do." With that one final pledge, he held her close and gently leaned forward, his lips sealing against hers with a kiss

A smile formed as she kissed him back, it was kind and gentle, the one type that reminded her of their night together right after Marjolaine was murdered, she knew that night he could see right through the mask she wore on her face, that she was lying that she was okay, Marjolaine was her friend and Leliana was forced to kill her because of some stupid game of politics, he simply just held her that night, gently kissing like now, and each told each other how they felt, it was a night not to be forgotten by either one of them.

Leliana gently parted from him, looking at his green eyes and smirked seductively as she pushed him backward, his back hitting her bed with a hard thump, a groan escaped his lips as she crawled over top of him, their lips kissing again.

By the morning's call from the sun coming in from the windows shaped in the Inquisition's image and the nightingale's cawing did she begin to stir from her slumber, the first amount of good sleep she had in months, she gently rubbed her eyes and found herself finding one hard fact, she woke up alone.

He was gone, her love was gone again, a pain had entered her heart, for the first time she felt happy, safe, just as she did when she was when she was on the road during the Blight. As she began to rise from the bed, quickly changing into her armor, she discovered something beside her pillow, a note with his hand writing on it.

As she strapped her boots in place, she unfolded the note and smiled when she was it was from him.

_Leliana,_

_ I know words cannot describe how much sorrow you must have for seeing that I left you but I must ride for Tevinter. I know you want to come with me but you have a job to do, and that's to stop this Coryphus and his plot to find the Golden City. I will offer whatever resources I can to the Inquisition and Vigil's Keep will assist where it can. I care about you so much my love and I only wish to see you smile again. We'll have to do these nightly visits more often. _

_Come find me once this business is done, I love you so much._

_Warden Commander Ryan Cousland_

"Lady Leliana? The Inquisitor has summoned you to the war room." One of her scouts spoke from the opposite side of the door.

She smiled and stood, folding the letter back up and placing it within her armor "I'm coming."

It was a new day, and a whole new start for her.


End file.
